Happy Saturday! Can you believe that it’s now October? I have no idea where the summer went but suddenly I’m now thinking about Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas presents. I’m also getting set to publish LOVE’S LAST KISS, the fourth novel in my Deadly Force series, this fall. And… I’m prepping for NaNoWriMo 2021!
So what’s a busy writer to do when she has a life and a job and many, many people coming in for the holidays? She’s prepping for NaNoWriMo. Now, I have to be honest, depending on how my edits go this month, I may not be able to participate. But if I can, I’m going to work on my sweet holiday romance.
That means I need to be super-organized. I blog, am editing one book, getting another book ready to go on submission, and also want to finish up the proposal and get a good chunk of this Christmas book done before, well, Christmas. So I came up with a daily checklist. Although today is October 2, it won’t be hard to catch up. And if you need to double-up on days, do whatever you can. This list, the first in a series, is just a guideline to help you mentally prepare to write 50K words in November.
We all write different things in different ways, and this is just a guideline. So change/add/delete whatever works for you!
Throughout the month, I’ll be building an annotated bibliography here on the website and will offer some writing templates for those who are interested. While I would never presume to tell another writer how to write a book, I am a reference librarian who is good at organizing and making lists of resources for authors at all stages of their careers. So let’s get started….(I’m assuming you have an idea of the genre, sub-genre you want to write. I’m also assuming you know what NaNoWriMo is!)
And I’ll see you next week with more writing templates and other ideas to get you ready for NaNoWriMo!
- Announce your novel on NaNoWriMo.org. Choose the title, genre/sub-genre, and length of the story.
- Check your calendar/schedule for November and set aside days and times you know you can write. Do it now before your schedule fills up!
- Set up your Scrivener or Word file. Play around with templates.
- Write a logline. (Who, what, when/where, how, & why)
- Decide on the type plot structure you want to follow and jot down the basics you already know. (Blake Snyder’s Beat Sheets, The Hero’s Journey, etc)
- Make a list of character names and roles they play in the story. (primary and secondary)
- Brainstorm your characters’ traits, personalities, etc. and create character summary sheets (Enneagram? Archetypes?)
- If you have any ideas of scenes you already know, journal about them quickly. Just get them down before you forget.
- Decide on a setting and do some preliminary research.
- Buy the perfect writing candle to light for inspiration while you write. (Not a necessity, but fun to do)
- Fill out a world-building questionnaire (especially if writing sci-fi or fantasy or paranormal).
- Research ways to build a series bible, if necessary for your story/series/world.
- Create a writing music playlist or white noise.
- Research local NaNoWriMo write-ins.
- Plan rewards and reward system.
- Pre-plan easy meals for November, maybe even make some and freeze ahead.
- Choose a new writing craft book to read this month. (some suggestions below)
- Stock up on snacks/coffee/tea/treats for November.
- Find other NaNoWriMo friends/accountability partners.
- Clean and prepare your writing space.
- Buy whatever office supplies you may need (notecards, highlighters, colored markers, etc).
- Buy a new journal and begin brainstorming your story outline.
Writing Craft Bibliography
Below is an ongoing list of my favorite writing craft books, alphabetical by author’s last name:
Bell, James Scott, Write Your Novel from the Middle, 2014.
Bork, Erik, The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen, Stage, or Fiction, 2018.
D’Costa, H.R., Sparkling Story Drafts: How to Outline Your Way Toward Cleaner Rough Drafts, Reduce Your Revision Time, and Get a First-Rate Screenplay or Novel onto the Marketplace, 2018.
Hauge, Michael, Selling Your Story in Sixty Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Story Read, 2006.
Hauge, Michael, Storytelling Made Easy, 2017
Hayes, Gwen, Romancing the Beat, 2016
Henley, Jodi, Practical Emotional Structure: An Easy to Understand Plain-English Guide to Emotional Theory and the Transformational Character Arc, 2013.
Weiland, K.M., Outlining Your Novel, 2013.
Weiland, K.M., Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story, 2013.
